ANDREW FRIERSON has caught more than 20 sturgeon in January and February fishing from his private boat, moored at Loch Lomond Harbor.

It's about as well as anyone can hope to do when targeting the West Coast's most elusive game species, yet the Corte Madera angler has lost sleep this winter over fishing. That's because twice he has lost a giant fish near the Pumphouse, and while he continued catching and releasing one small sturgeon after another, the big one that got away was, in Frierson's mind, assuming the girth and greatness of a white whale.

"It's a smart fish," Frierson said, describing the encounters with the giant. "Twice he'd done the same thing, running from the boat, then turning and coming straight back at us faster than I could reel in. He shook the hook each time."

Last Sunday, Frierson pushed out from his mooring at Loch Lomond and, armed with live mud shrimp and accompanied by two friends from Petaluma, he motored into San Pablo Bay to the same place where the big sturgeon had been hooked. Frierson carefully aligned several points on land, including Mount Tamalpais, the Carquinez Bridge and the Pumphouse, then dropped anchor. Jeanne Guest caught and released the first fish, a four-foot sturgeon that gave her the adrenaline rush — and barbecue-sized steaks — that only local sturgeon fishermen can hope for. Her partner, John Bechtel, also saw the subtle bite of a sturgeon at his rod tip, and he, too, reeled in a keeper.

Frierson says he rarely brings fish to the dock on his boat and that Guest and Bechtel kept their sturgeon only because they never had before.

"Otherwise, I'm a catch-and-release kind of guy," said Frierson, who teaches the skills and ethics of sport fishing to local youths with his kids' adventure club, Andrew's Camps.

The morning clouds gave way to blue sky, and by noon Frierson was in short sleeves. As the boat slowly rocked side to side, lurching and bouncing against the taught anchor line, his rod tip slowly dipped. He answered swiftly and set the hook.

"I knew right away it was the big one," Frierson said. The fish ran, and the reel screamed like a siren as the fish took more than 100 yards of line. Frierson regained some before the fish ran again, leaping and twisting like a humpback whale and landing with a gargantuan splash. The tug-of-war went on for an exhausting hour, and as the sturgeon tired, it pulled the same trick Frierson said it had used twice before to shake the hook — running at the boat and putting dangerous slack in the line.

But this time, the hook held, and the three-person team managed to edge the fish with their hands to the stern. They held it in place while Frierson stretched out the measuring tape to almost 85 inches — a sturgeon seven feet long and perhaps 180 pounds. After a few photos (images too blurry to publish), a twist of the barbless hook set it free, and the giant disappeared into the brown bay.

As tempting as it may be to personify a fish as a recurring beast and nemesis, like Moby Dick, Frierson concedes that there are plenty of big sturgeon in San Francisco Bay.

"It probably wasn't the same fish," he said. "I mean, what are the chances of that?"

Salmon watch

State and federal biologists estimate that a whopping 1.5 million salmon of both Klamath River and Central Valley origin are currently swimming in ocean waters off the West Coast, and the sport fishing season could begin as soon as April 6, according to Department of Fish and Wildlife information officer Harry Morse.

However, scientists and fishery managers are concerned that ocean fishermen could have a substantial impact on the Sacramento's endangered winter run salmon, which mingle indecipherably at sea with Chinook salmon of other strains. To reduce accidental catch of the winter run fish, the season could be temporarily closed during the summer height of the fishing and tourist season.

Morse says the season dates will be finalized during the first week of April.

Fundraiser

The Golden Gate Salmon Association, a local organization actively fighting to maintain crucial water flows in the Sacramento River and improve habitat for spawning and juvenile Chinook salmon, is holding a fundraising dinner on April 4 in Santa Rosa, at the Friedman Event Center. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. Info: (855) 251-4472 or visit www.goldengatesalmonassociation.com